Woman dies after being hit by bicycle

(there is always a first, I suppose)


Woman dies after being hit by bicycle
The 68-year-old pedestrian struck her head on bike trail’s pavement.
By SONYA SMITH IRVINE WORLD NEWS


Bethel Korean Church members are grieving the loss of ministry member Jung Kim, who died this week after being struck by a bicyclist while walking on an Irvine trail Sunday morning, police said.
Kim, a 68-year-old Yorba Linda resident, died at 5 p.m. Monday after being struck on the San Diego Creek Trail next to the 18000 block of Harvard Avenue and near UC Irvine around 8:30 a.m. Sunday. She was struck by a 46-year-old man from Huntington Beach, Irvine police Lt. Rick Handfield said. The bicyclist’s name was not released by police.
Handfield said the woman was walking south on the trail and that she waited for a group of bicyclists traveling north to pass her. She turned east to cross the trail and was hit by the bicyclist, who was riding with a friend and traveling south. The accident caused Kim to fall and hit the back of her head. She was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana for treatment of a brain injury and later died, Handfield said.
Handfield said the man was riding a Giant TCR road bicycle worth several thousand dollars and that the bicyclist and his friend stopped at the scene. The cyclist was riding 10 mph to 14 mph, Handfield said.

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The bicyclist was not arrested or cited. Handfield said there are no speed limits on the trail, which is county-owned but city-maintained.
Criminal charges would be possible if there were drug or alcohol involvement or reckless operation of the bicycle. Police suspect none of those yet, Handfield said.

(snip)

The Rails to Trails bike paths fall into two categories, what I call "Inner City" and "Country". "Inner city" bike paths are used as much as by walkers as bikers. They are heavily used, I end up tying to avoid them when biking do to the high number of Pedestrians (and when I do bike on them I go slow around any Pedestrians I come across). When possible I bike on nearby roads. These trails tend NOT be be design for HIGH SPEED biking, if you want to go over 10mph you better go by any nearby road then the bike path.

As to "Country" paths, these also tend to be used by hikers, but since the number of people on them is less, a bicyclist can go a faster pace (But must still slow down around people on foot). In the Mountains where I live, the bike trails are the best way to bike through the mountains (The old Railroads tend to go up very gradual grades). These grades tend also to be quite long and thus most people do NOT hike them (Through you still have to watch them). Thus it is possible to go over 10 mph on such "Country" paths, but you have to slow down when you are around other people Even on "Country" Paths.

One last comment, the "country" paths tend to be wider (in my opinion) then the "Inner city'" trails, just na observation. This may be do to the lower volume of people on "Country'" paths as oppose to "inner city" paths, but reinforce the need to go slow when passing other people on the trail.

For more on the Giant "TCR" bikes see:
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/road/

One last comment, Pennsylvania used to have a Law that if a Bike path was near a road, Cyclist HAD to use it. This was repealed about 15 years ago right after an accident where a high speed cyclist hit and killed a pedestrian on a bike trail (This was NOT a rails to trail line but one built along a road in a Count Park in Allegheny County called "South Park". The trail was design by people who assumed that bikes were low speed vehicles and thus could mix with Pedestrians on a trail with lots of ups and downs as while as curves. It was a bad design for a Bike Trail and ended up getting someone killed. It is now a walking trial with low speed bikes permitted don it, high speed bikes go on the nearby four lane road with the Motor Vehicles.

I have had a couple of times where pedestrians stepped or walked in front of me unexpectedly. I was able to stop or avoid the pedestrian but still it is disconcerting. Neither of them heard me coming because bikes are generally quiet.

Fortunately I was riding "heads up" and I recommend defensive riding, but sometimes even your best isn't enough. I'm very sad for the woman who died.